The Earth and the Sea
by esthete-of-the-world
Summary: Kirigakure captures Kakashi instead of Rin, leaving him the Jinchuuriki of the Three-tailed beast. Kakashi finds salvation in his supposed-dead friend Obito, but their reunion comes at a price neither of them were prepared to pay. With the turtle demon sealed defectively inside of him, Kakashi and Obito must master their new abilities before it's too late. AU, Kakashi/Obito.
1. Chapter 1

This is one of those "what ifs" that got a little out of hand. As per usual things have to go really badly for these boys before they get any better.

Author: esthete-of-the-world

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 1<span>**

The moment Kakashi gained consciousness, he knew something was wrong. Terribly wrong. He could feel it, hot and acrid, reaching from his chest through his whole body. What was it, poison? Was he hurt? Where the hell even was he? Cracking an eye open he sat up, but there wasn't much to see. The room was small, lit by only a candle; Kakashi had been collapsed on the ground. As he breathed the pain in his chest dulled, and slowly memories returned to his muddled mind.

He'd been on a mission with Rin and a few others. They'd split off from the group and then… Kiri had attacked. It was all he could do to distract them until Rin escaped. Which meant- fuck. He was alive, which meant Kiri caught him. Did they get Rin too? She should have been able to get away but Kakashi wasn't about to take any chances with Obito's promise.

Hauling himself off the ground he listened at the door for any indication of where he was. From the dirt walls and the smell of it he was underground. A few more memories came back to him: a long tunnel, a cavernous room shaking with an unearthly roar, a feeling like being stabbed through the heart... Shit, no, just concentrate on getting out of here. He needed to find Rin and make sure she was safe. And besides that Kakashi wasn't about to be used as some bargaining chip with Minato-sensei, or whatever Kiri had planned.

Before he could plan his escape any further, he heard a sound and tensed. A part of the earthen ceiling began to crumble. Though predictably all his weapons were gone, Kakashi dragged himself to his feet and got ready to fight. But no enemy nin appeared. Instead-

"Pakkun!" Kakashi said hoarsely. His throat was dry as hell, probably from whatever they'd drugged him with.

"Took us long enough to find you, idiot."

"Us?" Out of the hole in the ceiling dropped Urushi, panting happily, and then Rin.

"Rin too? What are you doing here?" He was relieved Rin had gotten away, but coming back for him ruined the whole point.

She put her hands on her hips. "Rescuing you, duh. I'm not _always_ the damsel in distress you know."

"Did you bring backup at least?"

"There wasn't any time. I've just the dogs you sent with me. They tracked your scent from the surface."

Pakkun snorted. "Not as easy as it sounds with all the Kiri people around. And your smell is off."

"Yeah, I think they drugged me. Rin, I'm fine." He shooed the medic away from her checking him over. "Can we just get out of-"

A nearby explosion shook the walls. Rin looked up sharply.

"That's our cue to go. I set some traps to keep them distracted for a while."

Rin helped him up the hole; he wasn't prideful enough to refuse, or stupid enough to not realize that whatever Kiri had given him, it was still in his system. He told himself it was just some tranquilizer, but it just felt… wrong. The skin over his heart itched and he rubbed it absently. Whatever Kiri had done to him he knew Rin could fix it.

"Kakashi, come on! We have to get out of here!" Rin grabbed his hand and tugged him through the sparse forest, illuminated with moonlight. His brain felt scattered and there was a rushing like water in his ears.

"There's a Konoha base not too far from here, alright Kakashi? Stay with me here."

"Right. Okay. I'm fine," he said, even though something was telling him that he was _not_ fine at all. He wasn't used to being led around by anyone, and Kakashi tried to clear his head. It was his job to get them out of here, not Rin's. He was the jonin, and he was the one who'd promised Obito.

"There he is! Get him!" A voice not far behind them chilled his blood. They'd found them already? Rin turned and hurled kunai trailing explosion tags.

"Pakkun! Urushi! Go find reinforcements!" Kakashi barked, taking a kunai from Rin. If they could just get some backup, maybe they could make it out of here. The dogs veered away from them, and almost immediately a hail of weapons rained down on them. They disappeared before they got hit. Kakashi and Rin were on their own.

Three masked Kiri ANBU were behind them, and another two came at them from the left.

"Go right!" said Rin, an edge of panic in her voice.

"The sea's that way. We'll be trapped!"

"Do we have a _choice?_"

Just barely they were able to dodge a water jutsu from the left. They really didn't. Rin was practically dragging him forward by the 's genius mind worked furiously through the haze surrounding it, trying to find a way out of this mess. He knew they were being corralled against the shoreline to trap them, though a part of him welcomed being close to the water… but Kiri knew more water jutsu than he did, water was a _bad_ thing! Soon the trees cleared out and they found themselves on a rocky outcrop.

A dozen more Kiri shinobi were waiting. Dread settled in Kakashi's mind. How could they escape? How could he get Rin to safety?

"I'll hold them off, Rin. Try and escape into the forest and make it to that base. They shouldn't follow you so far into-"

"No! I'm not leaving you again, Kakashi!" Her gaze was stern, though tears glimmered in her eyes.

"It's the only way to get you out of here!"

"I said no!"

The Kiri nin surrounded them in seconds. There had to be twenty or thirty. Why the hell were there so _many?_ And why hadn't they attacked yet? Kakashi's panic rose, and with it, the pain in his chest. He didn't let it show.

"Don't kill the boy! Take him before he transforms but do _not_ kill him!" a Kiri ANBU barked.

Transforms? They weren't going to kill him? Did they think he was that valuable a hostage? What was going on?

Kakashi breathed to stay calm and figure out what was happening. "Rin, we'll have to-"

**Damn these humans! Kill them all!**

"-kill the humans. I mean we have to fight. We'll have to fight our way out. But if you see an opening, take it. They might not kill me. Just run for it." Kakashi exposed his Sharingan and stood in front of her, kunai at the ready.

"We don't know that! I'm not leaving you for dead, Kakashi. You came back for me at Kanabi, I'm not leaving you now!"

"That doesn't matter now! I told Obito I'd protect you. I'm going to keep that promise."

**Pathetic humans, thinking they can imprison me! I'll kill you all for disturbing me!**

"What was that?" Kakashi looked around for the source of the booming voice.

"What was what? We don't have time for this!" Rin blocked a shuriken. The Kiri shinobi were approaching cautiously.

"Listen. Kakashi." Rin smiled weakly, tears in her eyes. The expression wrenched at his chest more than his burning skin did. "Whatever you promised Obito… we're teammates. We don't leave anyone behind. He's the one that said that, right?"

"Rin… but you..." A shinobi darted in from the side, and Kakashi moved to counter. His sharingan let him see the man's attacks, but there was something else. An energy boiling through his veins, filling his head with the sound of waterfalls. Dodging, he punched the Kiri nin hard enough to send him flying. Kakashi backed up again towards Rin.

"Rin, there's something wrong… in my head, there's… help me!" Two more attacked. This time he barely had to think, his attacks were instinctual. In just a blow each he hurled them away. He felt so _powerful_ so _alive_. The sight of his Sharingan blurred but he barely noticed. Kakashi lowered into a crouch that suddenly felt much more natural.

**I'll kill them all for trying to seal me!**

What was that voice?

**Smash them to bits!**

He had to protect Rin.

**Kill them!**

A green haze filled his vision. Kill them and protect Rin.

**They'll pay for this.**

This time, he attacked first. He launched himself at the nearest thing that moved, batting them away like nothing. A water technique hit from above. Instinctively he knew it wouldn't hurt him, in fact the moisture was welcome.

**Destroy them!**

Protect Rin!

Kakashi watched, distantly, as green-tinted energy covered his hands like slime. They sizzled on the ground. Nothing within him thought to fight it. He needed to protect Rin and he needed to kill them for sealing him, all the humans needed to **die!**

It was almost too easy. They attacked with jutsu and weapons that might as well have been puffs of wind against his shell. Anytime they got close he swatted them away, or burned them with his acid, or crushed them with his hands that could stretch out like vines to grab any human who dared come near. Nothing could hurt him. After some amount of time the humans stopped coming.

**Cowards!**

He roared in anger, a screeching, guttural sound that shook the air. Was that really him? Kakashi wasn't sure. It felt like he was in a dream, with no real control over his body. All he knew were vague pictures of the scene around him, the feel of crushing bones, and the command to protect Rin and **kill the humans** and protect her and **kill her too, end them all for what they did-**

"KAKASHI! RIN!"

That voice. The shock of it was enough to make him pause. Why was that voice so important? Who… Kakashi rounded on the intruder, taking him in for a moment.

Obito.

But he was… Obito was an important person, but he was dead. Was he? Kakashi couldn't remember.

"Rin! I'm coming!"

The person called Obito fought through the crowd. He used wood to attack.

Humans attacked him again, more unified this time and drove him toward Obito and the person who he was supposed to protect, Rin.

**Attack them both, filthy humans, or they'll attack you!**

The others kept their distance. It was only him and the two people who he should not attack, or should, he didn't _know anymore-_

"Kakashi! Snap out of it! It's me, Obito! And Rin!"

Obito took a step toward him. That was a mistake. Kakashi stuck out wildly and caught Obito in his acidic green hand, burning through flesh. Wood spiked out of the other boy's arm and Kakashi dropped him.

"Yikes, calm down Kakashi! It's me!" Obito's flesh fell off him, no, it was just a shell, and he scrambled out of the sizzling white body.

"Obito, how? You're alive?!" Rin said, embracing him. Kakashi hesitated, unsure of what to do.

"Yeah, long story… I'm so glad to see you Rin. What happened to Kakashi?"

"I don't know. Kiri caught him and he suddenly went nuts. Obito, we have to get out of here!"

"I know. Kakashi, you need to calm down." That was directed at him.

Obito faced him tentatively, palms facing him in a gesture of peace. "It's alright. We can beat these Kiri bastards together, and go home!"

Home. What was home again?

**They took me from my home! Make them pay!**

He growled again, this time not even recognizing the inhumanness of it.

"It's alright Kakashi, it will be-"

**It won't be alright! They took my home from me!**

The humans had to pay for what they did. His tail shot out.

"NO, OBITO!" Something moved into the attack.

His tail punched through Rin like paper. She hung for long seconds.

"No… not Obito… not… again..." Her words were barely a whisper.

Something cold seized his heart, freezing over the burning power. No. The tail turned to steam and Rin slumped to the earth.

Rin was dead.

He didn't protect her. He had… he had…

What had he done?

"Rin!" The anguish in Obito's voice snapped the rest of the haze away. The green cloak receded.

He killed Rin.

Killed her. He dropped down to his knees, left eye burning with pain he barely felt.

Obito lowered her to the ground and stood up. For a moment Kakashi hoped he would kill him, let him follow after Rin. But Obito walked right past him.

Obito's lowered voice, "I'll kill them," was the last thing he heard, and Rin's body the last thing he saw, before Kakashi finally collapsed.

The greenish mist was thick and Kakashi moved through it like water. Nothing in particular was guiding him but somehow he knew which direction to take through the fog; though what he was heading towards he wasn't totally sure.

It wasn't long before a shape appeared in the mist. A towering wall made of woven cables of silver metal stretched in all directions. Kakashi reached out to touch the bars. The cold burned his fingers and he flinched back.

A gargantuan roar blasted his ears and blew the mist back. On the other side of the woven cage, half-submerged in sloshing water, crouched the demon. Demon was the only word he had for it. It was covered in a scaly green shell, \ red muscle underneath and three tails raised threateningly behind it. One blood red eye with a clouded yellow iris bore down on him.

**You brat! **Roared the monster.

"What are you? Where is this?" Kakashi demanded.

**If you can't figure out that much, you really don't deserve to be my vessel, pest.** It growled.

Kakashi narrowed his eye. Where was he then. This place didn't feel real… almost as if it was-

"We're in my mind," he said suddenly. He gripped his chest. "Which means that… you're in my mind also."

**Not for long, brat! I'm getting out of here, and when I do all you damn humans will **_**pay!**_

The demon swung its massive paw at the cage, and to Kakashi's horror the bars groaned and bent. They were too thin, he realized, to withstand the demon's attacks. The closer he looked the more he noticed how flimsy and clumsy the thing seemed, with gaps and weak spots dotting the cage. All the woven bars met like a web in the center where a round lock marked with a wave symbol held it all together, even the lock seemed unfinished and raw.

The cage, the only thing separating him and the demon, was too weak to hold. That's the last thought he had before Kakashi was blasted with an acidic mist and woke, gasping, in the real world.

He barely had time to draw breath before he was choking, pulling his mask down to cough up sour-smelling water. Gasping, he looked around. What had happened? All around him bodies were scattered on a battlefield. Pools of bloody water and wooden growths marred the landscape. The fight- now he remembered. Being taken over by the demon, killing Kiri nin, Obito and Rin… Rin!

"Kakashi! You're awake." Kakashi tugged his mask on automatically and sat up. It really was him. It was Obito. The hair was longer, the smell was off and his face was scarred, but the voice was the same. His mind tried telling him that Obito was dead, that this was just another illusion, but somehow… he knew it was real.

Rin, lying murdered in Obito's arms, was also real.

"Obito, I… you're alive. How?"

"Long story. It doesn't matter." His friend's words were hollow. Dead.

"But Rin…" Kakashi trailed off. "I killed her, didn't I?"

Obito didn't answer for a moment.

"She died protecting me. It's my fault, too. Kakashi, what is this place? Are we in hell?"

Kakashi reached out and brushed Rin's cold fingers. The ragged hole in her chest had nearly dried, ringed with cloth burned with acid.

"No. I don't believe in hell. Earth is the real hell for people like us. Maybe we have to suffer to balance all the good things in the world. Karma or something like that. But…" Kakashi looked up, away from Rin's body. The sun was finally dawning. "You're here, Obito. You're alive. Miracles like that don't happen in hell."

"I guess… hey, are you alright?"

Kakashi was gripping his chest. It was burning again.

"The demon."

"Demon? You mean the one that..."

"Yeah. It's in me." He said it like a death sentence. Really, it was.

"What do you mean, in you?"

Kakashi coughed again, suddenly feeling feverish. Without letting himself hesitate, he pulled up the hem of his shirt to the painful spot on his chest. Even though he expected something, his eye still widened at the mark.

It was red, bleeding slightly and surrounded by purple bruising. Interwoven lines ringed the mark, and in the center was a symbol like three waves crashing inwards: the same mark that was on the lock.

"It's a seal," Kakashi said with a deadpan. His head was burning but his insides were cold with the realization of what needed to happen.

"A seal?" Echoed Obito, "That demon's sealed… _inside of_ _you?_"

"Yes. Not securely either. I saw it, the seal, inside of my mind- it's not going to hold forever. We don't have much time."

Obito set Rin's body down, gently. "Much time to what? Minato-sensei and Kushina-san know sealing, they could fix it." There was an edge of fear to his voice.

"No. I can't go back to the village under any circumstances. I'm too dangerous, I'll just kill people like I killed Rin."

"Kakashi... what are you talking about?" Obito asked slowly. Kakashi pressed on.

"Obito, you need to kill me. Now."

The Uchiha's single eye widened. "What...? No! What are you talking about?"

"I can't control it. The demon is going to go wild again, and it will kill more people. If you're really the real Obito, if you really are alive… then you have to do this for me. You have to take care of me before that happens."

"You… You!" Obito grabbed him by the collar and hauled him to his feet. Kakashi didn't resist.

"You idiot! You dumbass!" Tears dripped down from Obito's one eye, twisting at Kakashi's chest. It didn't matter. He had to make him see that this was the only way.

He pushed Obito away from him. "I'll _kill _people Obito. This is the only-" he coughed again, tasting more stagnant water dribble into his mouth. It was getting more difficult to stay standing. "-the only way. I'm weak right now, so is the demon. Kill me for Rin, or for the village, or revenge… just do it now, before it kills anyone else!"

Taking Obito's hand, he put it on his throat. A stab of fear shot through his stomach but he tried to ignore it. This was best. To die protecting his village, at the hands of his friend… there were worse ways to go.

But Obito didn't kill him. Instead he punched him in the jaw.

"BAKAKASHI! You're telling me to kill you… for the village? For _Rin_? You think this is what she'd want? I lost her, you think I want to lose you too?" He sobbed, tears mixing with the blood surrounding his eye.

"But I'm the one who killed her," Kakashi retorted, rubbing his jaw.

"No! You didn't kill her! The demon did, and I am _not_ letting it kill _another_ of my friends!"

"Obito, you..." Kakashi tried to lift himself up and do the job himself, but fell flat on his back. Fever ached through his body and he couldn't breathe right. "You idiot."

He closed his eyes.

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><p><strong>AN: **

So this is originally an RP but really only in a loose sense of the word. The odd-numbered chapters are Kakashi's POV written by me, and the even-numbered ones are Obito's POV by quietbun on Archive of Our Own. They don't have a fanfiction but this story is posted on AO3 under the same name so check it out there if you want. We have up to chapter eight of this done as of right now and I'll be spacing those out a little bit until we can get further ahead. Be on the lookout for quietbun's chapter soon!

Also yeah, I'm aware of the whole "evil Maadara seal on Obito's heart that makes him do things convenient for the plot" and also how the Kiri people were somehow under his control without Kirigakure itself ever figuring that out? But we're just going to go with it, alright? It's artistic license. Other things will be explained in time.

About Caged Wolf- I haven't decided whether or not to continue that. It's not that I've forgotten about it, I've just been doing a lot of writing other places, like RPs in this style with quietbun. Hundreds of thousands of words worth. But this is my first time since Caged Wolf writing Kakashi and it's getting me back in the mood. Thanks for your patience!

Questions? Comments? Review!


	2. Chapter 2

Author: quietbun

Chapter Two

"Kakashi?!" Obito whispered hoarsely as Kakashi went limp. Panic gripped his heart with an iron fist. No! No no no, this wasn't what was supposed to happen.

"Kakashi! No! Don't leave me here… Don't leave me alone in this hell," he sobbed. Now that he had awoken his Sharingan he should have been able to save him. He should have been able to save Rin. Why couldn't he save them?! His right eye burned painfully and he felt like the world was spinning around him. He gripped Kakashi's shirt tightly as a wave of dizziness washed over him.

He had to fix this. There was still time to fix this, Kakashi had said the seal was weak, and wouldn't hold whatever those Kiri bastards had put inside of him. He needed to get to Minato-sensei, or Jiraiya-sensei. They could save Kakashi. Obito tried to stand up- he would drag Kakashi all the way back to Konoha if he had to- but he instantly collapsed back to the ground, his legs no longer able to support him.

"Shit. Fuck. Damnit!" He hissed out a string of profanities, clenching his teeth as tears of frustration stung in his eyes.

Fuck, Kakashi didn't have much time. He struggled to stand up once more, and this time managed to drag Kakashi about fifteen feet, muttering "Jeez Bakakashi you weigh a ton…" before he tripped and fell once more. He squeezed his eye shut as he braced for the impact of the hard ground, but instead he kept falling. It was like falling into a cold river, and Obito's breath was sucked out of his chest. He opened his eye tentatively and then gasped, it didn't look even look he was on the same planet; everything blurred as it sped by and before he had time to take in the world he was falling though he fell out of it. He landed on a wooden floor with a heavy thud and he gasped for breath, letting go of Kakashi to clutch at his chest while he struggled to breathe.

"Identify yourself at once!" A deep voice snapped above him and Obito glanced up, expecting it to be another Kiri-nin and preparing to fight, but the man towering above him wore the hitai-ate of the Leaf village. He was also holding a kunai to his throat. Obito blinked in confusion; had back up arrived from the Leaf? But when he looked around he realized with a jolt that he was _in_ Konoha, in the Hokage's building. How the hell had he gotten here? Did it have to do with the weird place he had fallen through?

"Obito...Uchiha..." He managed to cough out.

"What are you trying to pull kid? Obito Uchiha died."

"Do I look dead to you?!" Obito snapped, glaring up at him, Sharingan burning. He didn't have time to discuss that fact that he was supposed to be dead. He could tell the Hokage what had happened to him _after _he saw Minato-sensei and made sure Kakashi was going to be alright.

"I need to speak with Minato-sensei right now. Kakashi was captured and the Kiri-nin put some weird demon thing inside of him! It's going to kill him if the seal isn't fixed!" He yelled up at the man who he vaguely remembered Shikaku Nara.

"Nara-san stand down. I think I'm able to recognize my own student's chakra." A warm, if tense, voice said and Obito looked up to see the Hokage, except it wasn't Sandaime Hokage-sama… It was someone else in a white jacket that was decorated with red flames.

"_Yondaime-sama_! Where did you come from?" Nara-san yelped, standing up straight and sheathing his kunai as a man appeared with a yellow flicker. Obito looked up and met the cloaked man's kind blue eyes… Minato-sensei? Minato-sensei was Hokage?!

"Sensei! Help Kakashi! I think he's dying!" He instantly blurted out, turning to where Kakashi lay unconscious on the floor, sending a panicked look up at his Sensei.

"Ok, calm down Obito, I won't let Kakashi die. Tell me what happened. How did you survive?" He asked, trying to calm the boy down enough to get a clear story out of him. Obito took a deep breath, still shaking, and nodded.

He skipped over Madara and the cave because it really wasn't important right then. He told Minato-sensei about the Kiri-nin capturing Kakashi, then him going berserk, the green chakra that had covered him and burned anything it touched, the way Kakashi's eyes had turned red and yellow and how Rin had died protecting him. A knot of guilt formed in Obito's stomach and his eyes began to water again, but he shook his head and kept talking, finishing up with the weird mark on Kakashi's chest and what he had seen in his mind, before Kakashi had asked him to kill him. Minato looked pale and nodded grimly.  
>"Nara-san, call for Jiraiya-sama and my wife. Also summon a team of medic-nins and get these boys to the hospital immediately."<p>

"With all respect Hokage-sama, the Uchiha boy can't be trusted. We don't know how he survived, I suggest we have Inoichi-san analyze him for threats before anything else." Minato gave the man a look that was boiling over with cold fury.

"Nara-san. I just found out one of my students is alive after thinking he was dead for a year! This will boy receive help, threat or not! We will have him analyzed once he has healed, and only under my supervision." Nara-san gulped and nodded, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Minato nodded sternly, then knelt next to Kakashi, and lifted up his tattered shirt to inspect the seal that had been carved into his chest. He swore softly when he saw it.

"What's wrong?! Is he going to die?!"

"No, he's not going to die. The Sanbi wouldn't let him die."

"What's a Sanbi? The thing that's sealed inside him?"

"Yes. Kakashi has become the vessel for one of the tailed beasts. You know about the Kyuubi don't you, Obito?"

"Yeah, it's the great fox demon right? I remember the clan leader talking about it."

"The Sanbi, what's sealed inside Kakashi, is like that except it's a turtle demon instead of a fox. It's one of nine great Tailed Beasts that inhabit this world, the Three Tails." Obito nodded, understanding for the most part.

"Can you fix it? Get it out of him or something?"

"Extracting the beast would definitely kill him." Minato-sensei said firmly, "Once someone becomes a Jinchuuriki they cannot survive having the beast taken from them." The word Jinchuuriki bounced around Obito's head like a lead weight; _human sacrifice_… He gulped.

"But, I can try to fix the seal. I'll need Jiraiya's help though; he's much more skilled in Fuuinjutsu than me. I'm betting… the seal he has right now is intentionally unstable, designed to fail and release the Sanbi using Kakashi as a Trojan horse on the Leaf. There's not much time." He picked up Kakashi easily and held out a hand to help Obito stand, he reached for the offered hand, but his hand passed right through it instead of solidifying and grasping it. He gasped and stumbled backward a again, Minato-sensei's eyes widened slightly.

"Ah, that might explain something."

"Explain what?! What's wrong with me?"

"Calm down Obito, what just happened right now explains how you got here. It's a variation of the Sharingan, called Mangekyo Sharingan. Yours must have some sort of spatial manipulation abilities. It can only be unlocked when you kill the person closest to you." Minato said solemnly. Obito gave a shaky nod, he believed Sensei but it still scared him shitless. As he attempted to stand up he felt a rush of dizziness and a rush of blood to his head and then he hit the deck, out cold.

* * *

><p>Obito woke up in a hospital bed, a symphony of soft beeps echoing around him. He gave a groggy groan and tried to sit up but found resistance in a leather strap around his chest. Making a panicked little noise his hands scrambled to remove the strap. He looked around the hospital room, his eyes wide with panic. Where was Kakashi? He needed to see him and make sure he was alright. What if they left him alone with just that monster in his head for company?!<p>

"Uchiha-san?" A soft voice broke through his panic and his eyes focused on the young medical nin standing next to him, her hands raised in front of her cautiously. Oh god she was afraid of him. He took a deep breath to calm himself and then fixed the girl with a stern look.

"Hey! Where is Kakashi Hatake and why am I being restrained?"

"Hatake-san is under ANBU supervision right now while Jiraiya-sama goes to research a new seal. You are restrained because while you were unconscious your Mokuton lashed out and injured several medics." Obito felt a pang of guilt and instantly responded.

"Are they alright?!"

"They're fine, we just found it easier to tend to your injuries with you restrained."

"Okay, then can you untie me and can I go see Kakashi? I'm feeling much better! I promise." The medic pursed her lips and shook her head softly.

"I'm sorry Uchiha-san, I've been informed by the Konoha Council that you're not to see Hatake-san until Yamanaka-san asks you some questions." Anger swelled in Obito. Damn them, what did it matter where he came from or how he survived?

"Fine. Take me to Yamanaka-san." Fear crossed her face again and he tried to change the scowl on his face to something calmer. "Uh, please." He added lamely. She nodded and removed the leather strap that was holding him down. Obito stood, wobbling a little bit. She helped steady him which he was grateful for, if a little embarrassed.

"So uh, what's your name?" He asked as they walked down the hospital hall.

"Shizune Kato. And you're Obito Uchiha. Rin-nee talked about you all the time!" She said with a smile, and Obito gave a start at the mention of Rin. Just hearing her name made his heart ache.

"You knew Rin?"

"I was her apprentice." She gave Obito a warm smile that only made him feel worse. It was his fault Rin had died, he had stolen this girl's teacher from her. He opened his mouth to apologize, but she glared at him, as if reading his mind.

"Don't say you're sorry either, I know that's what you want to do but that's not what Rin-nee would want. She was smart and knew what she was doing when she went back for Kakashi. If she was here she would smack you for being so mopey." This made Obito chuckle slightly. She was right, besides right now he didn't have time to dwell on the past. He had to focus on helping Kakashi, and right now that involved talking to a lot of angry adults. Shizune showed him into a room where the Konoha Council, the head of the Uchiha clan Fugaku-sama, Minato-sensei, and Yamanaka-san were waiting for him. Minato rose when he arrived and smiled reassuringly at him. Obito took a seat at the table and looked up at the cold gazes of the council members.

"Obito Uchiha. You're supposed to be dead." Well at least they got to the point. Obito's fingers ghosted over the right side of his face where a boulder had crushed him and supposedly killed him. It was covered in thick ropes of scar tissue. They were right of course. He should be dead, but instead he was still alive, half human half Zetsu, or whatever this artificial white Mokuton stuff was. Minato shot the man with the bandaged face a glare and placed a hand on Obito's shoulder.

"We just want to know how you managed to survive." Obito's gaze flickered to Yamanaka-san who sat on his other side, and reached to place a palm calmly on Obito's forehead. So they we're going to examine his brain to make sure he wasn't lying.

"Well, I remember the Kannabi bridge mission and giving Kakashi my eye-" a worried glance at the Uchiha clan leader and a dry gulp- "and then blacking out. When I woke up I was in this weird- GHACK" He made a strangled choking nose and jerked back in his seat, grabbing his throat where his skin suddenly felt like someone was strangling him with a red hot iron. After a moment the pain subsided and he rubbed his neck tenderly. Minato gave him a nervous glance and Obito nodded in reassurance that he was ok. That was weird... He opened his mouth to speak again, picking up at the part where he woke up in a cave with Madara, but the moment the words began to form on his lips his neck began to burn again and they were sucked from his throat. He made a strangled noise of pain and this time Minato-sensei barked out a question to Yamanaka-san.

"Inoichi, what's wrong with him?!"

"It appears he has a seal placed on him that prevents him from speaking about what happened. Even in his mind everything from the bridge to finding Kakashi and Rin is blank." Minato scowled and gently brushed Obito's hands away from his neck: a red ugly mark reminiscent of a Sharingan tomoe burned on Obito's neck, just above the head of his sternum.

Minato made an angry noise and looked at the man in the council with bandages wrapped around his head and one eye.

"Danzo, I know you use a similar seal to insure confidentiality in Root, do you know anything about this?" There was no hiding Minato's distrust of the man.

"No, it's an obedience seal, similar to the seal placed on the branch family of the Hyuuga clan." He said coldly and Obito felt a chill run down his back when he looked that man in the eye. Something about his chakra wasn't right. Minato glared at him and nodded.

"I'll look for a way to remove it, but until I do, I'm going to allow Obito leave and go see Kakashi-" He was cut off by a council member clearing his throat loudly.

"Do you really think that is wise, letting an… Uchiha near an unstable Jinchuuriki? No offence meant to the Uchiha clan of course." A vein pulsed visibly at Minato's temple and he clenched his jaw. Obito reeled, his anger swelling once more, he would like to see them _try_ to keep him away from Kakashi at a time like this.

"Actually, I have something I would like to say to Obito on that matter as well." Fugaku said calmly, and Obito felt an itch of dread. "Obito, we are all aware of you donating your eye to Hatake Kakashi, and while we were under the impression that you were dead we were, begrudgingly, willing to allow Hatake to keep the eye. But now that you have revealed that you are still alive you must have Hatake return the eye. You understand of course, the Uchiha clan can't allow non-Uchiha clan members to possess a Sharingan." Obito's eye widened at what the clan head was implying. "We have a doctor on standby who is ready to perform the surgery whenever you are ready."

"And if I refuse to take my eye back?"

"Then you would be disowned from the Uchiha clan, and banned from the clan compound."

"Then I refuse to take back my gift! I gave Kakashi my Sharingan because I believed I would die, and I don't regret it for a moment." Anger flickered across the clan head's face before he regained composure once more.

"Well then, the issue that he is an Uchiha and cannot be trusted is no longer a problem." Minato-sensei said coldly. Obito should probably be more upset about being cut off from his clan, but he really wasn't. His clan had never shown him much kindness due to his father's 'betrayal', when he was 'more loyal to the Nidaime Hokage than to the clan.' Minato gave Obito and troubled look, but Obito shrugged it off. The only family he needed was Kakashi and Minato-sensei.

"Regardless, I believe that Obito is perfect to take care of Kakashi while Jiraiya-sama is away. He can learn to control the Sanbi with his Sharingan and Mokuton, and he is already very close with Kakashi and he trusts him already." Minato-sensei said and the council members murmured in agreement.

"Alright, Obito can be assigned as Kakashi's guard, but on the condition that he is under constant surveillance by ANBU and he reports back to the hospital every day for a medical checkup. Kirigakure made the mistake of sealing the Three-Tails into one of our shinobi, and we should capitalize on that blunder as much as possible." Obito nodded and stood up, bowing awkwardly, and glanced at Minato-sensei.

"Of course. Thank you for your time." He exited the room quickly, Minato following behind him. The older man placed a hand on Obito's shoulder and crouched down till he was eye level with.

"Are you alright Obito? That was a lot to take in." Obito nodded and gave his Sensei a reassuring smile.

"It's okay Sensei, I don't really care! I just don't know where I'm going to stay now that I'm not allowed back in the compound, but I'll just figure it out later."

"Don't worry about that, you can stay with Kushina and I in our house." Minato said, leaving no room for discussion, so Obito just nodded and allowed Minato to guide him to where Kakashi was being kept. "The Sanbi seems to be having a negative effect on his body and he's become quite sick since he returned, so he's being kept in a quarantined part of the hospital."

"Why is it making him sick? Does that normally happen to Jinchuuriki?"

"Not typically, but I don't know much about the Sanbi and it's past Jinchuuriki. I suspect it has to do with how weak the seal is. The Sanbi itself is also a factor- it has been called the Rot Beast. It emits poison fog and causes water to become stagnant and uninhabitable, as a defense mechanism. The sickness itself isn't overly serious, just a severe case of the flu, but one or two medics have come down with it already," Minato explained, in that kind patient voice that he always used when he was teaching his team when they were Genin.

"Do you think it happened because of the green chakra that I saw earlier?"

"It's possible."

"Then why do you think I didn't get sick?"

"We think it has something to do with your artificial limbs, what they were made of and the healing properties they possess." That made sense. Obito nodded and put the mask that a medic-nin handed him on and followed Minato-sensei into a hospital room where Kakashi was lying in bed. Obito was by his side in a second, the medic-nin bringing him a chair to sit on.

"Jeez Bakakashi you smell like a wet dog." He said fondly, his anxiety that had been building up ever since he woke up melting away. Obito would definitely find a way to save Kakashi, like he couldn't save Rin.

* * *

><p>AN: First chapter written by quietbun! They're much better at writing fluffy stuff, and crying Obito. Send a review if you liked it! More plot and Sanbi Kakashi coming next time.


	3. Chapter 3

Author: esthete

**Chapter 3**

Much as he'd like to be, Kakashi wasn't unconscious the whole time. He could tell when nurses came in, partly by smell and partly through sound. Others visited though he wasn't sure when or for how long. Time was hard to keep track of in his feverish state.

Minato and Kushina visited at some point; all he picked up were their scents and snatches of sentences he couldn't always make sense of.

"I've always wanted to meet another one Minato… but not like this. Not him. Why did it have to be _him?_"

Then Minato-sensei's soft voice and a cool hand touching his forehead. "I'm so sorry Kakashi… I should've been there. I'll take care of Obito, and everything else. Just rest for now..."

He tried to tell Minato that everything was not alright, that Rin was _dead_, but it must have come out garbled since he was just shushed until he fell back asleep.

After that, or maybe before, Jiraiya-san's scent appeared. Muffled words were exchanged then someone was touching his chest again. People were doing that a lot. This time though someone did something that made his chest _hurt_. He cried out, or tried to, and forced an eye open to try and see his attacker. Blurrily he made out a medical-masked mass of white spiked hair, which twisted to become his father, then morphed again to a man with a T-shaped scar pulling at his eye.

Suddenly he was lying on something cold and hard, wrists secured at his side and shirt missing. Kakashi looked up and only saw a dark cavernous ceiling, and the man with the scarred eye was standing over him, wearing a gas mask and holding a scroll.

"Sharingan shouldn't interfere..." he was saying. Kakashi tried to move but found he couldn't so much as twitch a finger.

"Sure they will take him into the village?" Said another one, voice distorted by another gas mask but unmistakably female.

"He's the Hokage's prodigal student with a Sharingan and a Bijuu inside him. Even after we let him deteriorate for a few days... they won't give him up that easy."

The woman patted his cheek in a way that made him want to rip her arm off. "Be sure to deliver our little gift to your village safe and sound, okay kid?"

A roar that was at once terrifying and familiar shook the room. A hand pressed up against his chest and then his heart was on _fire_, the pain jolting through his body and the roars only growing closer and louder. His body grew heavy like his veins were filling with lead.

Without warning the cave twisted into a rocky space of land next to the sea, pockmarked with pools of bloody water and stunted trees. Kakashi looked around, certain that there was someone here, someone he needed to find… Waves crashed and tumbled nearby, creeping closer. Water splashed over his ankles and on his pants. He took a step back and found he was frozen, watching in horror as the sea crept higher and higher. Legs, then arms and torso and finally his face went under before he finally was able to move, floundering toward air. But the sea water was all around him- no, it wasn't sea water, it wasn't salty it was _acidic_. It burned dully at his head and eyes and body as he struggled to breathe.

_Help me,_ he thought. _Minato-sensei… Rin… Obito… Dad…!_

These dreams and others swirled through his mind for longer than he could keep track of. Sometimes he was back in the cave full of demonic screams, and long periods were spent in the acidic water. It felt like his whole body was baking and his throat was parched, even as wet clothes clung to his chest and legs.

One scene stood out from the others in that he didn't want this one to end. He was five years old again, not yet a genin, huddled in blankets with a wet rag on his head. Pakkun was curled up on his pillow keeping guard.

"'Tou-san, I'm hooooottt."

"I know, Kashi-kun. See now why I told you not to go swimming in the middle of winter?" His father sat next to his bed, setting down a glass.

"I wasn't _swimming_, I was _water-walking_," he said indignantly. He'd almost had it too.

"So I've gathered. Why did you decide to practice outside? You could've done it in the bath and avoided catching a cold."

Kakashi cuddled his cheek into Pakkun's velvety soft ear. The pup didn't complain. "I wanted to surprise you," he muttered.

Sakumo laughed. "Well I was plenty surprised when you walked in the door sopping wet and feverish." He switched the wet rag on his forehead, the coolness a blessing.

"Next time tell me before you go practice off on your own, alright Kashi-kun?"

"Okay..."

"Alright then. Wait with Pakkun for just a moment while I send word to the Hokage. I don't think you'll be better before my mission tomorrow." His father turned to leave, but Kakashi pushed himself up in bed as far as he could without disturbing his dog.

"You're not gonna go? But I thought missions were important?" If what he'd been told was true they were in fact at the top of the Very Important Things List, even above remembering to feed _Pakkun_.

His father smiled at ruffled his hair. "They are important, but not as important as you are. The whole reason I'm a shinobi is to protect the village, especially you. So it doesn't make sense to go on missions before taking care of you, does it?"

Kakashi mulled the idea over in his fever-addled brain. "I guess not. Does that mean I'm more important than the whole village?"

Sakumo tweaked his nose. "To me you are. More important than the whole world."

_Tou-san..._

After that his body cooled, and head cleared enough to be somewhat aware of what was going on around him.

"Geez Bakakashi, you smell like a wet dog."

He wasn't sure how much later he heard the voice, but when he did he knew it was someone important. They said some more things he didn't process while Kakashi tried to remember who this person was.

After a while another voice spoke up. "Come on, Obito. He should let him sleep. The doctor says he just needs some time to rest."

The name Obito sparked something. Obito… was alive. He was dead but now he's alive.

"Don't… leave… again, Obito..." He ground out the words, trying to reach out but only succeeding in flopping his arm off the bed. In a second Obito was back, grasping his hand.

"Kakashi! You're awake!"

He swallowed thickly. His throat was dry as a bone. "I-" he coughed, muffled by the medical mask hooked around Kakashi's ears. Still he wanted to let Obito know that he was alive, so he squeezed his hand as best he could.

"Hey, don't push yourself… I'm glad you're okay. Not even the Turtle Flu can keep you down for long, huh?"

He wasn't sure what Turtle Flu was supposed to be but it sure as hell was still "keeping him down".

"Don't worry, I can't catch it. Still have to wear this itchy mask though. Seriously, how do you stand wearing this thing all day? Hehe… anyway. I talked to the council and long story short I got kicked out of the clan. Don't worry though, it's alright..." Kakashi lost track of what he was saying at that point and nodded off soon after, clutching Obito's hand like a lifeline.

That didn't mean that his dreams afterward were entirely peaceful. He was back in the acidic sea, though the burn wasn't as hot as before. This time he could see the surface. Light reflecting off the surface showed people standing on top, not noticing or not caring that he was drowning so close to air. Slowly he kicked his way upward. As he got closer he began to recognize the people. Obito, Sensei, Rin, and directly above him, his father. Just feet away from the surface something growled beneath him. Kakashi glanced down and was met with the one-eyed gaze of the Sanbi. The name came to him like a forgotten memory.

It crouched half-hidden by the murkiness of the water. Three armored tails hovered around it menacingly. The demon growled again, and Kakashi began to sink. The acid burned his eyes and his lungs like never before. For a moment he wondered if it would be better just to sink into the abyss and just be done with it. He'd killed Rin… almost killed Obito… couldn't stop his dad from…

Kakashi was tired of it all.

But.

But a voice echoed around, maybe inside of his head or maybe out, that kept muttering encouragements. Through the burning in his head he heard it- "_Hey come on, you've beat worse than this… hang on there Bakakashi… I've got you… We'll be here when you wake up… Don't leave me too..._"

But, there were still people up there.

_More important than the whole world._

One more time Kakashi kicked away from the suffocating current dragging him down. One more time he reached up, hoping someone noticed him. He wasn't done here quite yet, not while there were still people waiting for him.

Kakashi was alive, and maybe, just for now… he would try to keep it that way.

Sensei, Kushina-san, Rin, Obito, Dad…

His father was the one to reach down and grab his hand, pulling him up toward the sunlight and the people he cared for.

"Tou-san..."

Kakashi opened his eye. His vision was clear and body considerably cooler. Obito's hand was still in his, squeezing tight.

"Kakashi!" Obito sniffed and wiped his eyes with his free hand. There were tear tracks down both sides of his face.

"What're you crying for, dumbass?" His voice was gravelly but it worked.

"You were… nothing. You got really hot there for a while and you weren't sleeping that well, and I thought..." The Uchiha let another few tears drop.

"I'm fine, idiot. Just thirsty." Obito nodded quickly and handed him a cup with a straw in it, then tried to help him sit up. Kakashi batted his hand away and let go of the other without comment. He could sit up by himself thank you very much.

After sucking down some water (he slipped the straw underneath his medical mask, something Obito would normally tease him for) Kakashi exhaled and closed his eye.

"How long was I out?"

"Two days about. You woke up a few times though." Obito scratched nervously at his head. His long hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in months and he was wearing hospital clothes. Long before Kakashi had noticed he scarring and artificial limbs but decided not to ask about them yet.

"I don't really remember the other times," he lied, "Where are we?"

"Konoha hospital. It's kinda cool, I got us here with-"

"We're where? Are you _stupid?_" Kakashi snapped with as much strength as he could muster. The other boy flinched.

"I didn't mean to! And besides, you needed a doctor! We both did. So I don't regret it, even if it was an accident." He frowned stubbornly and crossed his arms.

"I'm not even going to ask how you brought us here accidentally. Or how you're even alive. Right now I just need to get out of here." Taking a deep breath Kakashi tried to push himself all the way upright and was rewarded with a wave of nausea, and Obito pushing his shoulders down.

"You jackass, stay put! You're still really sick."

"Sick is one word for it. I'm a _demon_ Obito, unless you've forgotten." A slight chill went through his veins at the admonition but he ignored it.

"You are not! Stop saying that. Jiraiya-sama is in Kiri _right now_ looking for a way to fix this, so shut up and wait for him."

"Jiraiya's… can he remove it?" Hoping was almost painful but Kakashi had to ask.

"No, extracting it would kill you. And set the demon free, in case you're wondering," he added with a scowl. Damn, that wasn't an option then. "He's gonna find a way to fix your seal. When he checked it out earlier he said that it was purposely done wrong. So if Jiraiya can just figure out which seal those Kiri bastards were using, he can fix it."

Kakashi processed this for half a moment. "If he stablizes the seal, will the demon be able to… break out like before?"

Obito hesitated. "I don't know. But it'll hold much better than right now at least. Minato-sensei says it's amazing you were able to suppress it before."

"That's only because… I might not be able to stop it again!" Kakashi felt an irrational anger at Obito for making this so hard, and himself for being so weak.

"You won't lose control again." Obito grabbed his shoulders and hovered over him sternly. It was a new side of his friend he'd hardly seen before but this wasn't the time for his thick-headed optimism.

"How do you know?" Kakashi demanded. "Have you forgotten what I did?" Something wrenched in his chest- was it anger, or guilt maybe? "I killed _Rin_. I'm that unstable and you bring me back to the village of all places?!"

"But Kakashi-"

"You _never_ should have brought me back here. I'm going to kill-"

"BAKAKASHI!" Obito grabbed the collar of his hospital shirt and heaved him half out of his bed. He was crying again. "You're not going to lose control! You're the… you're the strongest, most talented shinobi I've ever met! If anyone can do it, you can. I trust you!"

Kakashi stared. "But I might-"

"Don't!" Obito yanked his collar again, "Don't you say another word. What happened with Rin won't happen again. I won't let it."

He looked him dead in the eye. "I promise that demon won't hurt anyone. You won't kill again. I'll make sure of it."

Kakashi didn't know what to say.

Suddenly there was a puff of air in the room and he rounded on it, teeth bared instinctively under his mask and breathing hard. Minato-sensei appeared, medical mask in place and palms out in a calming gesture, but his eyes were serious. Obito stepped away from him; still the tenseness in his limbs didn't fade.

"Kakashi, you need to calm down," Minato said grimly. Kakashi's chest thrummed and ached.

"Hey… what's with..." Obito was staring at him, a bit of fear in his eye. Kakashi tensed away from him too, then glanced at Minato cautiously. Some instinct screamed that these people were dangerous, he needed to run or attack. Why did he feel so threatened?

Silently Minato pointed at a mirror on the wall, and he understood. His eye, the non-Sharingan one, wasn't its normal flinty gray. It was… inhuman. The white of his eye was blood red, and the iris a sickly yellow. The shock of it stopped him cold.

"You need to stay calm Kakashi, or you'll excite the demon," said Minato. Kakashi felt like he was going to throw up. Breathing steadily and reminding himself that Minato and Obito weren't going to hurt him (even if he asked), he watched his eye regain its regular colors.

"Are you alright now?" asked Minato-sensei. Kakashi nodded jerkily.

"That was the… but he didn't even do anything," Obito said hollowly.

"The seal is very weak right now, and it's only getting weaker. Kakashi has to be kept as safe and _calm_ as possible until Jiraiya-sensei returns and we're able to fix the seal, alright? I _told_ you that, Obito." The Uchiha grinned nervously.

"But Sensei..." Kakashi kept his voice as level as possible and his breathing steady, "If I'm this dangerous, why don't you isolate me where I can't hurt anyone? Or just kill me and the demon together?"

"Because we're not giving up hope for you, Kakashi-kun," said Minato with his normal warmness. He approached him slowly and put a hand on his shoulder. "All of us together can beat this. With a new seal, and lots of support, you can-"

"I can _what_, Sensei?" Kakashi said evenly. The shock had worn off, now he was just numb. "Live the rest of my life just trying to keep this thing under control? Hope I won't go on another rampage?"

"No. Having a tailed beast sealed inside of you is _not_ a death sentence, and Obito and I aren't the only ones who will tell you so. There's one other person… who should be getting here about now. She'll explain everything."

"Who-" The door swung open.

"Minato, is everything alright? That chakra is spilling all over the place, dattebane!" The Hokage's wife barged in, red hair blazing.

"Yes, we got him calmed down."

"Kushina-san?" he looked at Minato, "What does she have to do with anything?"

"A whole lot more than you know, squirt. Everyone shut up and Kakashi lie down. You look pale as a ghost," Kushina demanded.

He was feeling a little light-headed so he obeyed the kunoichi's instruction. Obito settled down on his bed, the closeness comforting. Minato-sensei sat next to Kushina and put his hand on her's.

"Kakashi, what's inside of you isn't any ol' monster," she began, as serious as he'd ever seen her. "It's one of the nine tailed-beasts. The one inside of you is-"

"The three tails, Sanbi, I know, I can count the tails myself-"

"Don't interrupt, dattebane! The one inside of you is Sanbi, the lake turtle demon. A person with a tailed demon sealed inside of them is known as the Jinchuuriki of that demon."

_Human sacrifice…_ Kakashi had heard the term before, vaguely, and always in conjunction with death and disaster.

"No use beating around the bush, I guess." Kushina took a breath. "When I was a small girl, I was brought to this village for one purpose. That was to become the Jinchuuriki of the nine-tailed fox."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Next time Obito tries to readjust to life in the village. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Author: quietbun

**Chapter 4**

Obito listened to Kushina with rapt attention, hanging on her every word. The way she explained it being a Jinchuuriki was a burden, but not a death sentence like Kakashi thought. In fact even if Kakashi were to die the beast would be reborn in a few years anyway. She explained how the Bijuu were originally used as bargaining chips in peace treaties because of their potential as powerful weapons. Because of that Jinchuuriki were often feared by the villages, isolated and treated like they were nothing more than weapons and the beast they contained. Kakashi probably wouldn't mind if he was isolated, in fact he might prefer it, but the thought of him bearing that burden alone made Obito's heart ache.

"But if you're going to take away anything from this talk, it's this." Kakashi had been staring at his hands the entire time Kushina as been talking, so she grabbed his face with a vice-like grip and forced him to look her in the eyes. "So listen up _dattebane_! I'm going to tell you something my Jinchuuriki predecessor told me. The tailed beasts are masses of hateful chakra, and left unchecked they will only cause more destruction. The only way to counter that hatred is to fill the Jinchuuriki with love." She let go of his cheeks and gestured to herself, Obito, and Minato. "That's gonna be our job! We're going to fill you with love and make sure you never feel lonely or have to deal with that hate on your own." Obito swelled with pride and puffed his chest out, giving Kakashi a reassuring grin. Kakashi was quiet for a moment before replying.

"Why though? Why are you wasting your time on me? I could lose control and kill all of you just like I killed Rin!" Kakashi snapped finally, clenching his hands into tight fists. Obito opened his mouth to yell at the moron but Kushina-san beat him to it.

"Kid, if you don't think I could kick that demon's half-sealed turtle ass and chain that sucker right back inside you, you've got another thing coming!" Kushina said pridefully and Minato affectionately rolled his eyes at her.

"Besides Bakakashi! We're never ever gonna give up on you even if you turn into a crazy turtle sometimes! SO STOP BEING SUCH A MOPEY DUMBASS AND JUST ACCEPT IT!" Obito yelled giving the idiot a punch on the shoulder for good measure. Kakashi was silent for several more seconds before the tension in his shoulders faded and he sunk back into his hospital bed laughing softly and shaking his head. Obito blinked, shocked at first. Kakashi was… Laughing? He wasn't sure if he'd ever heard Kakashi laugh before. It was soft and quiet and made Obito want to laugh with him. A huge grin split across the ex-Uchiha's face and he laughed loudly; yeah, he really liked it when Kakashi laughed. After that the nurses kicked him out for punching their patient while he was still recovering, and Kushina and Minato agreed that they should probably give Kakashi some space and time to rest.

"They're still going to let me see him aren't they Sensei?" Obito asked nervously as they left the hospital.

"I don't think they could stop you even if they wanted to, but they are right. You should probably be more gentle with Kakashi, at least until his seal is finished." Obito scratched the back of his head, his face heating up with embarrassment.

"Sorry Sensei…"

"Don't worry Obito, I think the fact that you're treating him as if nothing has happened helps him a lot." Minato-sensei said reassuringly, smiling down at Obito.

"Anyways!" Kushina butted in, wrapping her arm around the black haired boy. "The doctors finally cleared you to leave the hospital _dattebane_! Minato told me that you're going to be staying with us since the Uchiha-clan can't pull their heads out of their asses, but don't worry I had Mikoto bring all your stuff over to our house. So let's go home and let Minato work everything else out." Home... The realization that Obito was finally home hit him like a ton of bricks. He was back in Konoha with Sensei and Kushina and Kakashi... even if Rin was gone.

"Obito? Are you ok _dattebane!_? I was just kidding about the Uchiha clan thing!" Kushina's hand was on his shoulder. Obito wiped the tears out of his eyes and grinned tightly up at the two adults.

"I'm alright!" Minato smirked at Kushina while the red headed kunoichi wrapped him up in a tight hug.

"Good! Now lets get home and get you cleaned up!"

Obito had never experienced true pain until that day. _Ah, so this is hell…_ He thought as Kushina dragged a brush through his tangled mess of hair.

"OW! Be gentle!" He exclaimed, wincing.

"Sorry_, _but you were the one who said you wanted to keep your long hair." Kushina muttered through gritted teeth as she battled with the rat's nest that was his hair. "Wouldn't it be easier to just cut it off?"

"No way! I've wanted long hair- OW!- ever since I was a little kid! Long hair is super cool!" He yelled back, tears of pain appearing in the corners of his eyes. Long hair was a sign of skill in shinobi culture and many of Obito's ancestors had worn their hair long. Kushina just made a 'tsk' of disappointment and kept brushing. This went on for another hour until Kushina was finally able to run the hairbrush through Obito's hair without feeling the slightest bit of resistance.

"Done." She said happily, finally letting Obito walk over to the mirror and inspect his appearance.

A scarred face stared back at him, long black hair falling in his face and a simple black eyepatch covering the empty socket where his left eye had once been. He gave an experimental smile, watching as a face that he hardly recognized as his own gave a half-crooked smile. Obito felt his gut twist with disgust despite himself as he made the realization that he would have to live with these scars for the rest of his life. He tried to shake that feeling off by telling himself that he was a shinobi and all shinobi worth their salt had scars. When he was a child he had fantasized over the idea of showing off cool battle scars, but now that his face was almost covered in them he felt differently. No one would ever think he was attractive again. He brought his hand up to his face and followed the swirling lines of the scars, wondering if Rin would have cared how deformed his face was.

"Umm, Obito. I think we have a problem." Kushina's voice called from the other part of the house. Obito dragged his gaze away from the mirror. When he got to the front room of the house he saw several large boxes with the word "OBITO" on it. Kushina was rifling through one of them, tossing out article after article of clothing.

"What are you doing Kushina?"

"Looking for some clothes that will actually fit you! All your old clothes look way too small."

"Huh? What do you mean? I couldn't have grown _that_ much!" Kushina held up one of his shirts to show what she meant. It hadn't looked that small a few months ago…

"That's my favorite shirt! It totally still fits!" He grabbed it from her hands and pulled off Sensei's shirt, which he had been borrowing until his were brought to the Uzumaki-Namikaze household, and pulled on the old shirt. It was so tight he could hardly fit his head through the hole and was about three inches too short on the midriff .

"It doesn't fit…" he bemoaned, pulling it off with a sigh. He was half ecstatic that he had grown and half in denial at the loss of his entire wardrobe. He helped Kushina-san go through the rest of the box, trying on any clothes that might fit, and tossing all the clothes that didn't. Most weren't even wearable anymore because the Uchiha family symbol had been torn off of every piece of clothing that had once proudly bore the red and white fan.

"Nice." Kushina muttered angrily as she threw away yet another ruined jacket. Obito really didn't care about the clan credts, what he was really upset about was the fact that now he hardly had any clothes left. All that was left was one pair of pants and two shirts, all of which were once-too-big hand-me-downs from his older cousins, and his flak jacket that he hardly wore anyway.

"Well. I guess there's no helping it. Get dressed Obito, we're going clothes shopping."

"What? No way! I can get my own!"

"I'm not going to let you live with just one outfit! Think about the laundry bill!"

"It'll just be until I can go on missions and make some money! I don't need your handouts!" Kushina smacked him over the head.

"Shut up dattebane! I'm going to buy you some proper fitting clothes! No arguments!" Obito rubbed his head and swore he could feel a goose egg.

"Fine! But once I become Hokage you better believe I'm going to pay you back! Plus interest!"

"You better." Kushina said with a firm nod and a grin on her face.

Obito followed Kushina out of the house, donning his measly outfit and tying his messy black hair up into a ponytail. She dragged him from shop to shop, buying him an assortment of shirts, pants, coats, and shoes. Obito was extremely grateful for all Kushina-san was doing, but no matter where they went Obito was acutely aware of people staring at him, and he couldn't help double taking every time he saw his own reflection. This was definitely going to take some getting used to.

When it was finally time to head back home Obito was weighted down with several bags and one box, nestled securely under his arm.

"One last stop!" Kushina said with a giddy tone that led Obito to believe she was up to no good. She bolted off to one of the many stalls that dotted the streets but before Obito could take a step to follow he heard someone call his name.

"Obito?! Is that you?!" Obito spun on heel to see who was calling him. It was Kurenai and Asuma, two of his friends and age-mates from the academy.

"Kurenai! Asuma!" He exclaimed, running over to give both of them an awkward one-armed hug, a jubilant smile on his face. "It's so good to see you guys! I missed everyone so much!"

"We heard rumors that you were back but I didn't believe it!" Asuma said.

"Well I guess you have to believe it now!" He said with grin.

"How are you alive?! Kakashi said you had been crushed under a boulder." Kurenai asked skeptically. Obito remembered the burning sensation that arose when ever he spoke of Madara.

"It's a... long story that I'm not allowed to tell anyone. You know how the council is. Sorry."

"Don't worry then. All that matters is that you're back now!"

"Haha yeah! So how have you guys been? Are you on a date?"

"What?! No way! I was just out running so errands." Kurenai insisted.

"I was just on my way to report to the Hokage." Asuma stated, both of them glaring at him, daring him to protest.

"Ah well that's too bad! You guys make a good pair." Kurenai blushed and waved him off. They chatted for a few more minutes, neither of them bringing up Rin even though they had to know that she was gone. Before long Obito realized he had _totally _lost Kushina.

"Oh shit! I forgot I was actually with someone when you guys showed up. I have to go find her!"

"Oh yeah? Who?"

"Kushina-san."

"The Hokage's wife?! Well you better go find her. See you later Obito! Bring Kakashi around sometime and we can have some dango."

"I definitely will! Bye bye!" He waved at the two chuunin as they left.

He found Kushina at a small stand where a woman was selling kanzashi. The beautiful hair ornaments glittered as they caught the sun.

"Looking for something for yourself? Or should I drop the hint to Minato-sensei that you want a new kanzashi."

"Actually I was looking for one for you!" She took one of the dangling pins and stuck it into his messy ponytail.

"What?! Why? These are for girls!" He looked at her with confusement as the ornament tinkled softly in the wind, but she just grinned happily and held up a mirror. It was an almost ridiculous scene, Obito; with his scarred face, and single eye wearing the dainty string of bells in his hair. The Kanzashi itself was fairly simple compared to the others on display, with three strands of golden bells that dangled down from the pin.

"Many warriors from my home country of Uzushio wore them- the more bells you wore the more accomplished a shinobi you were! And they can even be used for self defense in a pinch!" She said, and to prove her point she picked one up from off the stall and gave it an expert toss, landing firmly as any shuriken or kunai would in the wood of the stall.

"So are you saying I'm an accomplished shinobi?" He asked teasingly, liking the look of the kanzashi more and more by the moment. He knew Kushina would deny it and tell him he would have to '_work harder so he could become like Kakashi dattebane!'_ or something.

"Yes, you are a great shinobi. Maybe even better than Kakashi."

"Wait what?! Are you ok Kushina? Are you sure you didn't hit your head or something?"

"You idiot! I'm trying to be sincere here! I really do think you are a great shinobi. You managed to bring Kakashi home safe even while his Bijuu was manifest. I don't think many other shinobi could do that." Obito felt his face heat up at the compliment. "So I do think you deserve to wear a kanzashi. Although my husband can wear one with five or six strands of bells!" And just like that they were back to bickering. Kushina payed for Obito's new hair ornament and promised to teach him how to throw it like she could.

When they got back Minato was already home stirring a pot on the stove, and smiled when he saw Obito's new hair pin.

"You also bought him a kanzashi, Kushina?"

"Yep! I figured he deserved it after bringing Kakashi back in one piece dattebane!"

"What do you mean also Sensei?" Obito butted in, curious.

"She bought me one for our wedding."

"Really? Then why don't you wear it?"

"My hair isn't exactly long enough, so I keep it at home where it will be safe."

"So why don't you wear one Kushina? Your hair is totally long enough!" Obito asked.

"I can't find any that look good with my red hair." She said woefully. "Oh yeah! I forgot to ask Minato, why are you home so early?"

"Well, the council and I have finally determined what to do with Kakashi so I came home to tell you, but you were still out so I decided to start dinner."

"What do they want to do with Kakashi?" Obito's words were edged with worry and he tried to remain calm to listen to the rest of what Sensei had to say.

"Don't worry Obito, you're included in this plan. We're going to move him out of the village as a precaution to the Uchiha summer manor outside the village. He'll be safe there while we wait for Jiraiya to return, and then while he trains to control the Sanbi."

"Yeah that seems like a good place to do it," He remembered visits to the summer manor. They had always been fun; he got to spend hours and hours playing with his cousins and training with his aunts and uncles. "But Sensei, how did you get the Uchiha to let us use the summer manor?"

"You underestimate my power as the Hokage. It was less of a request and more of a demand."

"Alright! So when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow evening. Rin's funeral will be held tomorrow morning, and then after that we'll pick up d some medics and meet our ANBU protection team at the West gate." Obito was silent for a few moments, realizing that he would have to attend Rin's funeral and finally come to terms with the fact that she was really and truly gone. His heart ached and nodded silently.

* * *

><p>AN: A little more lighthearted this time. Sorry for the delay on this one, but I'll post the next chapter later today to make up for it! Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author: esthete**

**Chapter 5**

* * *

><p>"Ka...kashi..." Blood dribbled out of the sides of Rin's mouth. Acidic chakra billowed over her chest. His forearm was through her heart.<p>

"Rin!" Kakashi tried to pull his arm out of her, but she caught his elbow in an iron grip.

"Kakashi!" Her face contorted in anger, "I went back for you!" He struggled futilely to move, or speak, anything- but he was paralyzed.

"I went back for you, when you didn't do the same for me! And you killed-!"

He woke up, gasping.

Dammit. Again? The new Jinchuuriki put his hand over his face, trying to steady his breathing. It had only been a day or two, but it seemed like he'd been in the hospital for weeks. The cycle of fever, doctors, medicine, a snatch of sleep, nightmares then fever again dragged time to a crawl. Only the medics and Shizune had visited him since Obito, Sensei and Kushina-san had left.

Pushing himself up, Kakashi grabbed a cup of water from the nightstand and drained it. There was no one in the room at the moment, but he felt much better than he had before. His fever had gone down a little more and he wondered if he would be allowed to leave anytime soon. The sooner Jiraiya got back and his seal was fixed, the sooner he could… well. Try and not kill anyone for the rest of his life? Kakashi sighed.

The just-rising sun illuminated his room through the curtained window. If he strained he could just hear quiet voices throughout the hospital. Hopefully a medic would be in soon to give him some medicine or discharge him, but until then, he might as well try to get up. It had been far too long since Kakashi had been on his feet. He swung out of bed and stood, swaying a bit and rubbing his jaw. The shitty medical mask was itching. There was a table in the corner with a washbasin, rag, and pitcher of water. First things first he tugged off the itchy mask and drank the entire pitcher- damn he was thirsty. Did fevers always do that? Determined to at least wash his face before he got too dizzy to stand, Kakashi wet the rag and looked in the tiny mirror.

The rag hit the ground with a splat.

His face had marks on it. Five dark green curved triangles, one under his bottom lip and two more on either side, marred his jaw line. Tentatively he touched one. The skin was rough, almost reptilian, but most definitely _his._ It wasn't dirt, it didn't even seem like a tattoo- an image flashed through his mind of the Sanbi and its jaw-like armor above and below its head. Which meant… Turtle bastard had left its mark on Kakashi's _face?_ Was that normal for a Jinchuuriki? Kushina hadn't mentioned it. Was the beast starting to break out?

Kakashi took deep breaths. Minato-sensei had already warned him about keeping his emotions under control, not that he'd ever had much trouble with that before. He needed to calm down before the Sanbi got riled up again.

The door opened. Kakashi jumped half out of his skin, slipped on the wet rag and falling on his ass. So much for calm. Shizune was at the door, holding a tray of food with a startled look on her face.

"Kakashi! Are you alright?" Belatedly he realized he was maskless, but the damage was already done. He grabbed the table and heaved himself up as Shizune put down his food.

"You shouldn't be out of bed yet," she admonished, helping him back to his bed.

Kakashi sat down and stared at his bare feet. "Shizune… the marks on my face… are they...?"

Her voice became grave. "They were there when you arrived here. As far as we can tell, they aren't linked to your sickness and they aren't dangerous… but they might permanent."

Kakashi didn't answer. As far as consequences of becoming a Jinchuuriki, this really wasn't bad. After all his mask would cover the marks anyway. They just made the whole thing more immediate; his very face was stained with the demon inside him. It was sinking in that the Jonin's life would never be the same again.

"Kakashi? You alright?" Shizune handed him a fresh medical mask that he slipped on gratefully.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just… a little tired."

"Which is why you should still be in bed." Shizune gave his shoulder a shove and Kakashi laid back down. "You need to rest if you want to be able to go to Rin-nee's funeral later today," she continued, a little hollowly. Right, Rin had been mentoring Shizune while Tsunade was out of the village. Though they were the same age she'd looked up to Rin like a sister.

And her funeral was going to be today. Kakashi looked at his hands. He'd rather face Rin in his nightmares than have to explain to her family that he killed their daughter.

"Hey, don't you wimp out!" Shizune snapped, "I've heard what happened from Kushina-san. Rin went back to save you after you'd gotten captured, right? You better not waste your life, or it will be like she died for nothing!"

Kakashi blinked. "I… yeah. You're right. But Shizune, do you know… about what happened? To me?"

"You mean the Sanbi?"

"They told you?"

"Well... yeah, I'm one of your medics after all. I'm just a Chunnin but they thought that it would be best to have someone you know treating you."

"But you're not afraid of me? Afraid of it?"

"I'm not afraid of you, idiot!" Her smile faded, "But the Sanbi… they told how destructive and dangerous those things are. Once your seal is fixed, I'm sure you'll be able to control it. For now, I'll just have to trust you… and this." Shizune pulled a vial with a huge needle out of her pocket.

"What's that?"

"A tranquilizer," she said a little too cheerily, "If you start to lose it this'll knock out you and that demon for I don't even know how long."

"You don't know? Is it even safe?"

"Not sure! It's never been used on a human. It's designed for summon animals."

Ah. "Right..." Kakashi exhaled. He'd known the kind-hearted Shizune for so long he'd forgotten how _scary_ medical-nin could be.

"Well, you're looking much better anyway. I'm going to ask the head medic to discharge you for the funeral. Besides you would try to sneak out anyway, we both know that."

Not that he was excited to go, but he probably would anyway. She left his food (the only thing even remotely appetizing were the vegetables), made sure he took his medicine then turned to leave.

"Shizune?" he called after her. She turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Don't… tell anyone about what's under my mask, alright?" Kakashi looked down. "Even Obito. Especially not Obito. Or, anyone really."

"If you don't want me to. Come on Kakashi, I've known you longer than just about anyone, _including_ Gai. I've kept your teeth a secret haven't I? Not that there's any _reason_ to keep them covered up."

Kakashi gave her an icy glare. He'd practically grown up with Shizune until he started at the Academy. His father and her uncle Dan used to be best friends, and liked to bring their kids along to dinner or share a babysitter when they went out for a drink. She'd been hardly more than a toddler then but still remembered what his face looked like before he started wearing masks, and wouldn't let him forget it.

"Fine. You know that medic-nin keep secrets better than anybody. Doctor-patient confidentiality and all that. Now rest for a while. I'll tell Hokage-sama that he can visit you. You shouldn't even be contagious anymore."

He nodded. After she left he lay in bed, rubbing his jaw and not touching his food. By touch the triangle marks just felt like patches of rough, dry skin. Was Obito bothered by the scarring on his face? Suddenly he felt bad for not asking about it. Obito wasn't the only one who'd been through a lot since Kannabi Bridge. Kakashi had to remember to ask how he was doing, or something. Friends did that, right? Admittedly he was still new to the whole "actually trying to be nice to people" thing, but it couldn't be that hard, right? Kakashi had been given a second chance to be Obito's friend and he was not going to mess it up now. Besides, Kushina had said that it would help control the Sanbi, somehow… that whole "love filling the demon" thing didn't make much sense to him.

Speaking of, what would Obito think of his Sanbi-jaw-marks? Wait, Obito wasn't going to see under his mask. For some reason the question still bothered him.

Kakashi got up again, growling a bit to himself. Supporting himself on the wall (holy shit he was tired) he made his way to the washbasin and mirror. Partly curiosity, and partly a self-imposed desire to _get over it already_ drove him to drag off his mask and look in the mirror. Now that the initial shock had worn off Kakashi was able to look at himself more closely. He was even more sickly-pale than usual, contrasting the dark patches under his eyes. The triangles on his jaw were a bit longer than they were wide, curling inward and extending from just under his jawline to his cheeks.

The Sanbi's marks, along with his fang-like teeth and scarred eye made him look… demonic. Dangerous. He was a Jinchuuriki now, a monster, and no matter what Kushina said that was the reality. Tugging down the collar of his teal hospital shirt, he winced at the dark ink of his seal bruising the skin around it. The seal that was _designed to fail_. It was only a matter of time. If Jiraiya didn't come back soon Kakashi would transform again- and then the only question was how many people he killed before someone killed _him._

His face was no longer what looked back at him in the mirror. The Sanbi's evil, one-eyed glare blurred over his until that was all he could see. It was all hopeless, Kakashi _was_ the monster now, he was going to lose control again, kill Obito-

"No!" Kakashi squeezed his eye shut and punched the demonic reflection. The green haze receded while he just tried to breathe. He was _not_ going to kill anyone. Kakashi had to believe he wasn't going to kill Obito like he did Rin.

"Get a _grip,_ Hatake," he muttered to himself. Without looking at the shattered mirror, he picked up his medical mask and re-donned it, hands a little shaky. The knuckles of his right hand were cut and bleeding from the broken glass. But the pain in his seal had receded, so Kakashi guessed he was alright. For now.

There was a knock at the door. "Kakashi? Are you awake?" It was Minato-sensei. He darted back into bed as fast as he could without passing out.

"Uh. Yeah. Come in," he said, sliding his injured hand under the sheets.

The door opened and Minato entered quietly, shutting the door behind him. There was a bundle of dark cloth under his arm, and he was in black funeral clothes under his white Fourth cloak. Kakashi shrunk a little under the Hokage's gaze as he took in the untouched food and shattered mirror.

"Good morning, Kakashi."

"Morning Sensei."

Minato sat down in a chair by his bedside, sighed, and then held his hand out expectantly.

"What?" Kakashi said blankly.

"Your hand."

"My hand is fine," he said, looking down.

"Kakashi I am _not_ in the mood. Give me your hand." He met his teacher's steely gaze and almost flinched. Everyone knew that Kushina-san the legendary Red-Hot-Habanero was a force to be reckoned with. Less well known was that her husband could be even _more_ terrifying when he was mad.

Slowly he slid his hand out from under the sheets, wincing at the sting. Blood was smeared over his knuckles and streaming down his palm. Minato-sensei took his wrist without a word and began picking out the shards of glass. The silence was heavy.

"Are… Kushina and Obito here?" Kakashi asked tentatively.

"Yes. Obito's getting a checkup and Kushina went with him."

"Is he alright? I haven't even asked how he survived." That probably made him a terrible friend.

"We don't know either. There's an obedience seal on his neck to keep him from talking about it."

Kakashi's eye widened. "Like the Hyuuga's?"

"Yes. Whoever set it knew what they were doing; I can't remove it without killing him. He can't give us any information. We know that his artificial limbs are made of the First Hokage's Mokuton cells, but we have no idea where they came from. Who did the procedure and why they decided to save Obito is anyone's guess."

He'd already guessed that the artificial limbs were Mokuton, judging by the wood attacks Obito had used, but the fact that they were made from the First's cells himself was troubling. Where could they have gotten his DNA? Minato-sensei finished cleaning out the mirror shards and pulled some antiseptic and bandages out of the bedside table.

"Obito's alright though? I mean not just his body, but everywhere, he's… all... alright?" Not even Kakashi knew exactly what he was trying to say.

"He should be alright with support and time to heal. You _both_ will," Minato added sternly, tying a bandage around Kakashi's knuckles. He was being gentle but the smell of antiseptic just made him think of Rin.

"Now. What set you off?" He asked.

"Nothing. I have a broken seal and a _demon_ inside of me, do I really need a reason? I couldn't go two hours without losing it." Kakashi's face heated at the admission and it wasn't the fever. He felt like a toddler who'd thrown a tantrum. Did he really have so little self-control?

"I didn't ask why, I asked _what_ upset you. Was it what's under your mask?" Minato asked, though it didn't sound like a question. Kakashi hunched his shoulders and clenched the hospital blankets in his hands.

"So much for doctor-patient confidentiality..." he muttered.

"I'm the Hokage. Rules like that don't really apply to me. Shizune didn't tell me what it was though, I was hoping you'd show me." Sensei's words were light but he'd known him long enough to know that it wasn't really a request, not when he got like this.

Still Kakashi shook his head. "It's nothing, Sensei. Nobody will see it anyway under my mask. It doesn't matter."

"It matters to you, if that poor mirror is anything to go by."

Minato had seen his face before, that wasn't the problem. It was stupid and shallow but he thought of the marks on his jaw as the manifestation of him becoming a Jinchuuriki and a reminder of what had happened with Rin. He didn't want to Sensei see he'd become a demon.

"Alright Kakashi, this is what's going to happen." Minato said after a moment of silence. "You are going to give me that mask and I'm going to check your seal for any deterioration. Then you will get dressed and we'll meet Kushina and Obito to attend Rin's funeral. Immediately after we are going to an Uchiha manor outside the village where we will fix your seal and teach you to contain your tailed beast like Kushina does." Minato held his shoulders and gave him a piercing stare. "And _you_ are going to stop hiding things from people that are trying to help you. Before it was just unhealthy, but now? It's dangerous, Kakashi. Especially while your seal is so weak."

The Jinchuuriki said nothing. At least they were finally going to move him out of the village. Minato put his hand out again, for his mask this time.

"I think you've spent too much time around Kushina," said Kakashi, touching one loop of his medical mask, then stopping.

"Do I really-"

"Yes."

Kakashi looked away from his teacher and pulled off the mask. There was a small hitch in Minato-sensei's breath as he saw the curling green marks.

"In case you're wondering, yeah, they look like the armor around the Sanbi's jaw," Kakashi muttered. "It's like it stained me. Cursed me. When I looked in the mirror, I didn't see my face. I saw that _monster's_. It's like I'm turning into-"

Sensei hugged him.

"You are not turning into the Sanbi. The marks are just a side effect of a bad seal. You're _Kakashi_, a human being, and you are _not_ the beast inside of you. I don't want to ever hear that again."

Kakashi chewed his cheek, a nervous habit he thought he'd grown out of. Hugs weren't something he was used to so he just hung there limply until Minato let go of him.

After that he stripped off his hospital shirt so Minato could check his seal. He shivered against the cold air.

"I know you still have a fever Kakashi, just bear with me here." Sensei was kinder now that he was cooperating, holding a glowing hand over his seal. "Not by so much but it's definitely less stable than before. Can you feel anything when I do-"

"Ow! Yes!" People needed to stop _doing_ that.

"Sorry. At least your seal seems secure enough. If you stay calm, you can go to Rin's funeral. But if you start to lose control I'll use Hiraishin to get you away from there. Deal?"

Kakashi nodded. He got dressed in the funeral clothes, grateful to have his mask and hia-ate back. Eager to get out of the stifling hospital room and its shattered mirror, Kakashi insisted they just go straight to where Obito was. He soon discovered that walking itself was a chore and had to stop and rest _twice_ just on the way. God, this was humiliating. Normally he didn't mind hospital visits too much; he was free to sleep and read as much as he wanted. Now he just felt weak and useless.

"He should be around here somewhere," Sensei mused when they got to a hall of identical white doors. Kakashi headed straight for one on the right.

"No, he's in here." Mokuton may have changed Obito's scent but he still recognized it, hospital stench be dammed. He opened the door.

"Kushina-saaaaaan, when can I go see- oh! Kakashi! And Sensei!" Obito's face absolutely lit up at the sight of him. His hair was combed back into a ponytail with a decorative pin stuck through it. He was dressed in the same black clothes as the rest of them, but without a shirt. The line between his tan skin and pale Mokuton flesh was clearly visible and it made Kakashi wince in spite of himself. His friend really had come close to dying under that boulder.

"Yeah. Uh, hi," he said, sitting down before he got too exhausted. Now that he was here he wasn't sure what to say to the ex-Uchiha.

"They let you out already? You look terrible Bakakashi." Obito either didn't notice or didn't care about his bandaged knuckles.

"Thanks for the encouragement dumbass."

"You're welcome. As soon as Kushina-san gets back I can get out of here too. I really don't even need checkups."

"Your Mokuton is healed then?"

"Well the parts connected to my body are for the most part. I'm just not really used to it yet. It's not as bad as your turtle flu. You sure you're alright? You look like you need a wheelchair."

"I'll be fine. I can sit if I need to during the. Service."

It's not that Kakashi had forgotten about Rin's funeral, not by a long shot. He'd just pushed it to the back of his mind during his eventful morning.

"Yeah..." Obito trailed off. Minato-sensei, who had been standing in the doorway, broke the silence.

"Oh, here's Kushina."

"Obito, they say you're free to go. Hey, Kakashi. You feeling alright?"

A twinge went through his chest when he saw Kushina and he wasn't sure why. Something made him nervous about her.

"Morning Kushi-"

**I knew I sensed that fox bastard!**

"Holy SHIT!" Kakashi sprang out of his chair, glancing around. Where the fuck had that come from? The voice was vaguely male sounding and boomed like thunder.

"Uh… Kakashi?" Obito looked at him like he was crazy.

"You didn't hear that?" Maybe he _wasn't_ ready to leave the hospital…

**Of course they didn't. What are you, some kind of idiot?**

Wait. It wasn't… Fuck, no.

"Oh come _on._ What else do you even want from me?"

**I ****_want_**** to get out of such a stupid vessel for one. But I'm not interested in talking to a human. You just tell that nine- tailed bastard that he's going down.**

"Wait. You _just_ figured out she has the fox? We talked about that. Yesterday." Was it a good idea to talk to a demon? Probably not.

**You think I stay awake for all your petty human bullshit? Like I said. You don't interest me. Other than that I'm going to take down this half-assed seal and rip you and this whole country to shreds. **

"I'd like to see you try," he said darkly. But the heaviness in his chest dissipated, and he became aware of the other people in the room staring at him like he'd grown another head.

"Kakashi? What was that?" Obito asked hesitantly.

"Kushina," he said, ignoring him, "it was _talking_ to me. The Sanbi. Well not to me but. Is that normal?"

She looked about as dumbfounded as he felt. "Sometimes the Kyuubi does. Not like that though, only when I'm in my mindscape."

"Your what?"

"Where the cage is."

"Oh, that place." Kakashi sat back down.

"You were talking to Mr. Turtle? What did he say?" Obito interrupted, looking half excited and half terrified.

"That he wants to fight Kushina? Well, the Kyuubi. Also he says that he's gonna break the seal and destroy the country."

"Well you tell _him_ that we're gonna seal him up for good!" Declared Obito, pointing to Kakashi and puffing out his chest.

"Too late. He went back to sleep. But that's not the point. Kushina-san, does this mean the seal's weakening?"

"I..." she half-laughed, "...don't know? It probably has to do with your seal being unstable, but your seal and Bijuu are also both different from mine. And I've never met another Jinchuuriki besides Mito-sama so…"

Kakashi exhaled. Just once he'd like to get a definite answer.

As they approached the shinobi graveyard, any semblance of a lighter mood dissipated. Kakashi wondered if they'd all been avoiding talking about Rin for each other's sakes, or their own. They walked in a heavy silence. Though he'd insisted that he didn't need a wheelchair or crutches Kakashi was starting to lag a little despite himself. Any other day he probably wouldn't be allowed to leave the hospital yet.

Without a word Obito grabbed his wrist and slung Kakashi's arm over his shoulders.

"Hey, I can..." He trailed off. Obito half-dragged him forward, face fixed in a resolute expression he hadn't seen before. No, he had once. When they went to save Rin almost a year ago.

Not another word was spoken until they arrived at the cemetery. They weren't late, but a crowd was already gathered. Many were in the shinobi funeral uniform, mostly their classmates, but a good portion were in fancy dark kimonos. Rin was from a family of doctors, civilian ones. A few times she'd complained about her father criticizing her decision to work in the field rather than the hospital.

"You do a lot of good in a hospital," Kakashi remembered her saying, dimly smiling, "But it's not always enough. I became a medic to save lives, and if I have to put myself in danger by working in the field to do that, then so be it. Besides, someone has to take care of you guys."

That was before Obito had been crushed by boulders. Back then all he'd seen in Rin was a mutually beneficial relationship where he kept her safe and she healed him in return. A warrior-medic partnership Kakashi never once questioned as anything more than business. Never had he thought of going out of his way to bond with her back then, primarily because he didn't think he was _supposed_ to.

Rin should have lived a long life safe in the village, away from him and away from the war. As they approached, Minato and Kushina in front of them, people turned and bowed somberly to the Hokage and his wife. Kakashi kept his gaze downward to avoid meeting anyone's eyes. Still he could hear the whispers that followed them. Obito and he must've made quite the sight- one thought dead, the other looking half-dead. Kakashi probably deserved their stares, but if anyone said a word to Obito he felt likely to rip their throats out. How much did everyone know about what had happened? Him being a Jinchuuriki was a secret, but what about the rest? Did they know that Rin had rescued him from Kiri? That she was the hero that protected the village from him? Or that he was the one that killed her?

"Kakashi." It was Asuma, with Kurenai, Gai, and a few others their age. Kakashi paused but didn't say anything.

"Hi everyone," Obito said morosely but Asuma didn't even look at him.

"Is it true?" The ex-Hokage's son voice shook with tension. "What they're saying? Did you…?"

Kakashi's jaw clenched; so they knew that much at least. Anger and guilt boiled inside of him unnaturally hot. No. He wasn't losing it here, not at Rin's funeral.

"Hey! Answer me!" Asuma grabbed his wrist when Kakashi tried to walk away. "Just tell me what I heard is wrong. That you would never do that."

The grip on his arm was like iron. Dammit, couldn't he just leave him _alone?_ The Sanbi's chakra boiled just below the surface of his mind and why was Asuma making this so hard?

"Leave him al-" Obito came to his defense, but Kakashi looked Asuma in the eye and interrupted him.

"Yes. If you're asking if I killed Rin. It's true." He kept his voice still. Somehow Kakashi had the feeling if he wavered an inch he would lose it, not that he had the right to run away from this now.

"No… way." Kurenai put her hands over her mouth. Gai stared hard at the ground and Asuma's grip on his wrist tightened like a vice.

"Bastard! How could you? Why?"

"Hey guys, everyone just calm down," Obito said seriously as he put himself between Kakashi and the others. "We can't do this here."

"Obito, you were there weren't you? What really happened? Kakashi doesn't mean that, right?" asked Kurenai, looking shaken. Gai was still uncharacteristically quiet.

"What happened is classified," snapped the Jinchuuriki with more venom than he intended, or maybe he did intend it. He ripped his arm from Asuma's grip. "You don't need to know." Then Kakashi stalked off before he did something to make Minato-sensei kick him out.

Behind him he heard Obito's voice apologizing. "It really is a secret. I'm sorry. I was there but I still couldn't save her… sorry." He caught up with Kakashi, who hadn't expected him to follow him but didn't protest. There was only silence until Kakashi's chest stopped burning and the funeral began.

Though it was an early summer morning, there was a briskness in the wind. Kakashi shivered and glanced at Obito standing tensely beside him. It was a shinobi funeral like a hundred he'd been to before just with the addition of a monk speaking beforehand, courtesy of Rin's family. Kakashi wondered if she ever even believed in that stuff, spirits and reincarnation. He wasn't really listening to it either way. Even if he didn't feel about to faint, funerals were never his thing. Mourning couldn't be finished all in one succinct ceremony, in his experience at least.

Even when it was Minato's turn to speak he only caught the last few lines.

"... never easy. But Rin lived to help people, and died saving the teammates and village she cared deeply about. With that, if nothing else, we have to learn to be content."

Then, one by one, everyone was handed a white flower to place in front of her picture. First was her family: a man, woman, and two little boys all bearing Rin's same purple tattoos. The man, probably her father, sent him a dark glare Kakashi could barely bring himself to meet. Her decision or not, Rin still went back for _him_ and was killed by _him_. Not everyone was willing to forgive that as easily as Minato and Obito had.

As tradition states her team was next. Minato went first and Kakashi had barely taken three steps behind him before the world was spinning and blackening.

Obito caught him before he hit the ground. Like before he heaved him up and supported him.

"Sorry Obito, I… sorry." The words came out heavier than expected. His friend helped him to the growing pile of flowers that they added their own to, heads bowed.

"The whole time I was… gone, you guys were the only thing keeping me going. Rin, you, Sensei- you were my rays of light." They settled back into line and watched others give their final farewells to Rin.

"When I finally found you, and saw Rin die, it was like all the light in the world had gone out. I killed the rest of the Kiri-nin like it was nothing. Their lives didn't matter anymore. Nothing did. I was sure I was in hell. But then, you woke up. I realized you were alive. Suddenly there was a little bit of light in all that darkness. That's when I realized… When you're alone, all you can think about is dying. But when there's two of you, all you can think about is surviving."

Obito's eye bore into him, a mirror image of his own. There were tear tracks down both cheeks. "So that's what we're gonna do. We're both going to live. I'm going to learn to control this wood power, and you're gonna kick that damn turtle's ass. Without Rin, those Kiri bastards would've made him go wild on the village for sure, right? We're not gonna let what she did go to waste. We have to, or else... I don't know what I'm gonna do." His voice broke on the last syllable and he choked up. Not that there was much left to say.

"Okay. We'll do it." Kakashi responded. His voice wasn't able to reflect much of the determination he was starting to feel. Rin may have been the one impaled by the Sanbi's attack, but Kakashi was who felt like there was a hole through his chest.

Maybe Kushina was right. Maybe there was a way to fill the emptiness in his seal and in his heart. He could only hope.

After the service, Kakashi asked Obito to help him to a nearby tree to rest while the Uchiha mingled with the crowd. He figured that after so long away, he'd want to talk to their age-mates. That and the white-haired boy was exhausted in a lot of ways and just wanted to take a nap. From afar he watched Obito tentatively approach Asuma and Kurenai.

"I'm sorry for the loss. Konoha is always in need of more fine medical staff."

Kakashi scrambled up to a stand less than gracefully.

"Danzo-sama."

The older man's eye looked like it was gazing straight through him and he shivered.

"Hatake Kakashi, correct? You shouldn't strain yourself in your condition."

"Ah, yes sir." He put a hand on the tree to support himself.

"I assume you are aware that the responsibility you now bear is not one to be taken lightly?"

Danzo was on the council so of course he knew about the Sanbi. Really Kakashi shouldn't be surprised that he was being approached by a Konoha leader.

"Of course."

"Power like a tailed-beast's has to be handled carefully," Danzo continued, gazing at the crowd still gathered around Rin's grave. "A Jinchuuriki can be a danger to their village if not trained correctly. However, they can also become a weapon more powerful than any other."

He paused.

"Uzumaki Kushina-san has spent her life doing neither of those things. The intention of the Third was for her to protect and control it, never taking the risk of trying to utilize that power. Her role has been of a cage and nothing more. But you must have seen the raw power that the Sanbi possesses."

Kakashi nodded slowly. Half-hazy though he was about it, he remembered the ease with which he mowed down the Kirigakure soldiers.

"You're saying I could learn to control its power? And use it?"

"Yes. Rather than simply containing it, if you were able to bring the beast under your control, you could become more powerful than anyone. Wars like this one that killed so many could be ended quickly. You would never have to worry about losing control or striking out against your comrades. Of course, taming a Bijuu is not without risk of its own. Specialized knowledge, a safe place to train, a method of controlling it- all these are essential."

"And you… have those things? You can train a Jinchuuriki?"

The man nodded gravely. Controlling the Sanbi, seizing its power instead of living in fear of it. It was an appealing prospect to say the least.

"If you ever want to become a boon to your village, rather than simply preventing disaster, let me know. I'll be waiting."

"I'll keep it in mind. Thank you." Kakashi bowed and Danzo disappeared. He slid down the trunk of the tree. If what Danzo said was really possible, there was nothing he couldn't do. He could protect the village, Obito, everyone.

"Kakashi? What did Lord Danzo want?" Minato asked, walking up to him. His voice was a little guarded.

"Just sending his condolences. And wishing me luck on my resealing." Kakashi lied almost reflexively. How he dealt with his beast was his business in the end, wasn't it?

"Alright then. Speaking of, we're leaving soon. I got us a medical carriage so you won't have to walk the whole way. Kushina and Obito should be ready soon."

Kakashi nodded. First things first he needed a reliable seal, _then_ he'd decide how to use it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Sorry for the lateness but this chapter needed a lot of editing. It's one of my favorites and I wanted to get it right. I should add that when I post a new chapter I often update older chapters with freshly-edited versions, even the ones written by quietbun. I edit their work and mine. Almost always it's just wording and minor changes like that, and I won't ever change something that adds or subtracts from the plot in any significant way. I always want my stories to be improving so this is just a heads up.

Also- there's another Jinchuuriki Kakashi fic on AO3 that also has him with marks along his jawline like the Sanbi's, and it in a way inspired Kakashi's marks in this. Here though the marks are going to work differently and serve a really different purpose, but I thought I'd put it out there anyway. The fic is called Drops in the Bucket ( /works/1476808) and I highly recommend it!


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